


Shadows In The Universe

by CiaranthePage



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Contains mentions of, Multi, Nightmares, Other, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 18:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5014837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiaranthePage/pseuds/CiaranthePage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Any sort of drabble I couldn't put in my other drabble collection. May be anything from hurt & comfort to angst to suggestive themes and bad flirting.<br/>Hello!! I moved these to their own fics!! You can find chapter one <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/8292605">here</a> and chapter two <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/8292676">here!</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bad Dreams Are Made of This

**Author's Note:**

> _Summary for this chapter:_ Ruby knew the drill by now. Dress, bandaids, water, calm her down, clean her face. In that order.  
>  ~  
> WARNING  
> This work contains mentions of injuries, blood, nightmares, death (though no one dies), and a brief mention of nudity (though nothing explicit)

Sapphire had nightmares. A lot. Not even _normal_ nightmares.

_Bad_  nightmares. Ones that left her shaking and crying and babbling on about things that didn't make any sense (" _Ruby you can't go to work tomorrow he's going to do it he's going to **explode**_ "). She called them "Worst Case Scenarios" whenever Ruby could get a word out of her about them during the day. They'd been going on for years, Sapphire said. Ever since she was little. Sometimes she said since the accident, sometimes puberty, sometimes her whole life. It was inconsistent, and Ruby figured that was as close as she was gonna get. Apparently most of them were about things that  _could_  happen -- Ruby getting shot at work, her getting so many cuts she bled out, one of them getting kidnapped and tortured to near death before being found -- but probably never would. The first few times it had happened she'd fallen out of bed, and her entire family had to get used to Sapphire waking someone up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying.

Ruby had panicked, the first few times it had happened after they'd started living together. They weren't allowed to sleep in the same room when she'd slept over before, and once they got a few chances to stay home alone Sapphire had been fine. She didn't even mention it when they moved in, thinking she'd know what to do anyways. But then it was three am and Sapphire had woken up screaming and Ruby had panicked at it was a very bad night for them both.

That was almost two years before, however.

Ruby knew the drill by now. Dress, bandaids, water, calm her down, clean her face. In that order.

Nothing seemed off that night, when Sapphire woke Ruby up by shaking, clawing at the cold sweat on her forehead with (purposely) dull nails. Ruby felt the familiar jolt of panic that had never quite gone away, and reached out to touch her shoulder gently. Sapphire flinched, looking over at Ruby with a gaze that almost seemed to suggest that she had no idea who or what she was looking at. Ruby pulled back her hand, the panic growing a little (she'd never  _flinched_ before). Standing, she pulled out a nightgown from the closet, crawling back over to Sapphire. "Babe," she said softly. "Sapphy -- Sapphire, you're gonna be okay."

Sapphire let out another sob in reply. Ruby tried again to reach out, except this time she didn't flinch. Ruby slid the dress onto her arms as carefully as she could, letting it drop over her head. Sapphire clutched at the dress, clawing at her sides. "It  _hurts_ Ruby!" she sobbed. "It hurts and I can't  _make it stop_!"

Biting her lip, Ruby scooted a bit closer to her. "Sapphire, it's alright, I'm here. What hurts?"

" _Everything_. I'm bleeding Ruby, I can't make it stop, I'm bleeding --"

"Shh," Ruby brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'll get the bandaids, here."

She reached into her side table, pulling out a box of bandaids. Sapphire wiped tears away from her face, though they wouldn't stop falling.

"Where are you bleeding Sapphy?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire looked cautiously at the box, then pointed to a few places on her arm as Ruby placed bandages over them. Sapphire wasn't  _actually_ bleeding, as normal. But it made her feel better, so even though they spent a shit ton of money on bandaids every month, Ruby didn't really care. Sapphire's eye seemed a little more focused once she was satisfied with the bandaids, but she doubled overquickly, ahnds around her waist. "My st-stomach, Ruby my stomach hurts so bad --"

"Babe, c'mon, you need water. Can you walk?"

"I don't know I can't -- my legs don't feel right Ruby  _where are my legs_?!"

Ruby flinched a little. She set her hand on Sapphire's leg, rubbing it. "They're right here Sapphire. I'm going to be right back, I'm gonna get you some water."

Sapphire reached out, grasping weakly at Ruby's hair. "No, no you can't go there's going to be someone in the bathroom --"

" _Sapphire_ ," Ruby stressed. "I'm gonna be okay. Do you want me to carry you into the bathroom with me?"

Sapphire nodded slightly. Ruby scooped her up, practiced and easy. Sapphire was practically a featherweight, by this point. She buried her face in Ruby's shoulder, holding on tightly. Ruby gave her a gentle kiss on the head as she nudged open the bathroom door. She set Sapphire carefully on the counter, filling up a cup of water. "Drink this," she said, handing it to Sapphire. "Do you want to talk about the nightmare?"

"...maybe?" Sapphire mumbled. "I don't know. It was ..."

Ruby rubbed her leg softly. "It was what? You seem really bothered by this particular dream."

Sapphire took a deep breath, taking a few sips of water before she finally mumbled. "We were dying. Specifically, I was. I was  _watching_ you die. There was a pole through your body, and you looked ... you looked like you'd pushed me away. I could only watch as all this blood  _slipped_ onto the ground. There was a stain on the pavement where you had been bleeding. I felt my body weakening, failing, my legs. I don't think I had any legs. Something had happened to them."

Wringing out the cloth she'd gotten while Sapphire was talking, Ruby let the silence hang in the air. "Sapphy," she whispered. "Come here."

Sapphire set her water to the side as Ruby came over to hug her tightly. "We'll be fine," she reassured her. "Nothing is going to happen to us. You need to clean off your face, you've got tear stains all over it."

Ruby handed her the cloth, allowing Sapphire to wipe off her face as Ruby got her own drink. She checked the clock -- it was only three twenty, thank god. She'd been running on three hours of sleep for nearly two days straight. She had today off, luckily.

"Ruby, my stomach still hurts," Sapphire said. "This ... I don't think this is from the nightmares."

She lurched over, groaning. Ruby kicked into nearly full-panic mode, putting her hands on either side of her face. "What do you need?"

"I don't know. It just -- the pain keeps flucuating."

"Do you think we need to go to the hospital?"

"No, not yet, I'll take something for the pain and if it keeps going we'll see? We can't afford --"

"Shh. I'll get it."

This was ... new. Hopefully the pain meds would work.

Ruby prayed to the gods above they would work.


	2. Love Me In The Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...I gave her everything. My heart, my soul, my loyalty, my body."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter:  
> -Suggestive themes  
> -Pearlrose  
> -Death  
> *Post Apocalyptic AU*

There were fourth truths I held close to my heart.

_First: The dust never settled._

Rose always told me that she believed once the dust settled, humans would come to an end. We were the very things kicking up all that dust, after all.

I believed her. I saw the dust our caravan kicked up simply by moving around. Once the dust settled, I told myself, humans have ended. It was my life goal to kick up dust for as long as I lived under the beating hot sun.

_Second: The carvan never stopped._

Garnet told me that the caravan was the lifeblood of humans. We brought things from encampment to encampment, trading and bartering for what we needed, what others needed. We were one of the last caravans around.

I knew this. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew this. Caravans brought food. Water. Soldiers. Warm bodies. News. Fire. Anything someone could need, you could find on a caravan.

_Third: The stones never landed the same way twice._

The witch girl, Amethyst, told me about the stones. She tossed them, debated on the outcome of the weather. She told me she could predict what weather would follow us that day.

I saw this happen. The stones never quite landed in the same formation, the same sides up, the same pattern. She read them perfectly, predicted with an accuracy even Rose admired. So I admired it.

_Fourth: Hearts never stop beating for the ones they love._

I told this to myself.

I told this to myself to keep me going, keep me driving, keep me walking. And I knew this because of one thing. One love.  _Rose_.

I'd fallen in love with Rose early. Before I knew I was to be swept away. Before I knew how kind she was, how lovely she was alone, how much acceptance she spread. I'd fallen in love with Rose when I saw her bouncing curls stepping up, volunteering to be swept away on the caravan, never to return. My heart started beating that day, I think. It has not stopped since.

Years passed. It did not stop beating. I saw Rose often -- I took a job as an unloader just to be closer to her, to see her, to brush hands with her. I never dreamed they'd hold another caravan draw in my lifetime, for the same one on which Rose rode. But one was held. I was chosen. I did not cry. I rejoiced.

Once I was swept away, I came face to face with Rose. And my heartbeat got stronger. She knew this -- _she felt it_ \-- her heart beat in tune with mine. I felt it. I felt her heartbeat in a way unlike any other human heartbeat I'd ever encountered in this world. So she asked me, in the dead of night, under a thousand stars, if my heart beat for her the way hers did for me.

And I swore on the marks of my birthright it did. And in that moment, I gave her something. No, I gave her _everything_. heart, my soul, my loyalty, my body.

Rose gave me her everything in return.

We probably made more love than necessary in those times; especially for a pair whose union would bare no children. Most nights, if there was enough silence, enough distance between us and the rest, enough room, enough tension, I would lean in close. And she would pull me in, wrapping me in warmth, and I would ask. And then pink lips would be on my own -- and everywhere else. Rose drove it all. The love making, the direction, the caravan, my heart, my actions. I could think for myself, of course. I was still human. But Rose was my guide, my love, my safety. And why should it be any other way? She loved the feeling. She loved the control, the admiration, the leader position. I let her drive it all, and we were happy. _  
_

Rose left me covered in markings some nights. Witch Amethyst (as it was proper to call her) would tease me about it. She would ask and ask where I'd gotten all these sudden bruises. I never told her, only went to Rose and intertwined our fingers, mumbling in an old language my mother had taught me.

She only left the imprints of her soft touches on my mind others.

I kept going. My heart beat. It rang out into the silence that filled the rest of me, as my thoughts had long since gone quiet -- before I'd joined the caravan, even. I only felt things, now. I had no coherent thoughts besides those which became words. Even those were jumbled, a mix of languages, pitiful whines and cries for the love, the light of my life.

I let my body, my mind, my soul, all become Rose's. She filled me with her love, her joy, her kindness. I kept them inside, let them warm me up.

Let them spill to the floor when I lay eyes on her bloody wounds. The ones that ended her life.

She kissed me all over for the last time that night. She lay dying -- _I insisted we shouldn't, she should recover_ \-- she said she wouldn't, she knew she wouldn't -- _I gave in, I drew her love into me_ \-- she poured it into my body, into her kisses, into the loveshe gave me below -- and the next morning, I woke up cold and lonely, all my love gone, save blood stains on my skin and a still beating heart. I found a note, lying crumpled in my hand.

_The boy. Find him. My brother -- Steven. He will return all I have taken with me, this night._

_I love you, My Pearl. Be safe. Join me one day._

I found the boy. His heart did not beat like mine. His heart beat lighter, softer, brighter. I was determined to find the matching heartbeat to this boy's.

I owed it to Rose, to let him live as long as he could, in loving bliss. At least, now that my own eyes saw the shattered world I'd been left alone in.


End file.
